Death of an Invincible
by Morquetwen
Summary: In the summer before his sixth year, Harry is abused physically by his family and emotionally by his own mind.
1. Insecurity

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. If I did, it would be on Fiction Press.  
  
Bright green eyes stared blankly at the ceiling of the smallest bedroom at Number 4 Privet Drive. They were set above dark bruise-like half moons on the gaunt and injured face of Harry Potter. He lay on his bed as he had most of the summer, his left wrist twisted at an odd angle at the end of a skeletal arm. The Dursleys no longer trusted him with work, so he lay there, eating about once a week and sleeping even less. Had he been at Hogwarts, he would have been eating dinner about now if he wanted to, which he didn't. He considered eating the Dursleys' leftovers for a moment before deciding against it. 'Maybe I'll starve.' he thought hopefully, before shaking it off. 'No, I've already tried that. Famous Harry Potter doesn't have the willpower to starve.' He didn't need to upset Vernon again anyway, and winced even at the thought. Besides, he wouldn't starve before the next day, when he would return to Hogwarts.  
  
Harry stared intently at the ground as he boarded the Hogwarts Express, quickly putting a concealing charm in place. Hermione greeted him eagerly as he entered a compartment.  
  
"Harry! I missed you. Why haven't you answered any of my owls? Ron's either, I talked to him. Was it the Dursleys? Another Dobby incident? Which reminds me, I've been working on my plans for S.P.E.W. -are you alright? You look a bit down..." She trailed off, pulling him into a warm embrace. He flinched somewhat violently, but somehow managed to stay calm. This was Hermione, she wouldn't hurt him, would she? He pulled away, and she looked at him gravely.  
  
"Harry, you're so thin. Have the Dursleys...?"  
  
"Sorry, Hermione, but you need to leave so we can change." Ron cut her off, having just entered the compartment.   
  
"I- okay," She stuttered, casting a worried glance at Harry before leaving.  
  
The concealing charm only worked on his face, and Harry wasn't eager to reveal his severely concave stomach to Ron. Ron and Hermione were good friends, better than he deserved, Harry thought, but they wouldn't understand. He wasn't sure he wanted anyone to understand. In second year, Ginny was kidnapped and brought to the Chamber of Secrets because he hadn't acted on his suspicion of it's location quickly enough. In third year he had let Pettigrew escape to bring Voldemort back when Harry was too weak to defend himself after luring Cedric to his death. Finally, just last year, he had been an idiot again and gotten Sirius killed. Harry stared at his hands. How many people had died because of him? Too many, not to mentioned those who had come close or been tortured. 'Their blood still stains my hands. I wish it were mine instead.' he thought grimly. 'I killed them.'  
  
"Oi! Are you going to get changed or what?" Ron's voice woke him from his thoughts.  
  
Er, yeah, I guess I should." He replied nervously. He hadn't gotten new robes with the Dursleys, which was just as well, since he would have been bombarded with questions about his thinness and bruises while being measured. Harry bit back a yelp when he bumped his fragmented ribs as he changed with his back to Ron, who was fortunately looking the other way. Just as he finished, the food cart came in. The kind looking woman who pushed it smiled at the two boys, offering them a variety of sweets. Ron politely declined, but Harry bought a moderate amount of various things. He made an offering gesture to Ron and turned to stare out the window stoically.  
  
"Are you going to eat any of this, mate?" Harry slowly shook his head.  
  
"Are you feeling alright?"  
  
Ron was met with an indifferent shrug.  
  
"Not hungry?"  
  
Another shrug.  
  
"Suit yourself."  
  
Author's Notes: Wow, you actually got this far! If you review, I'll be happy, and won't pout. I'm sorry about any mistakes, and don't bother to flame me, 'cause I'm not pretending to be able to write. 


	2. Collapse

Harry's eyelids felt heavy under his glasses as he tried to listen to Snape's instructions at the beginning of Potions. He was failing to do so though, and finally his eyelids yielded to gravity.  
  
"POTTER!" Harry jumped at the startling shout. He looked up to see an enraged potions master. "50 points from Gryffindor and a week's detention, Potter. While you may consider my lesson below you, your potions tell a different story." Harry bowed his head as Snape stalked off to patrol the classroom. He rose to gather his ingredients when he was suddenly overtaken by dizziness. His face began to feel as if it were burning, but it was freezing to the touch. His knees buckled and he tried to regain his balance, succeeding only in making himself fall to the right instead of forward to be caught by a very shocked Severus Snape.  
  
Harry woke quickly, immediately aware of the man holding him. He jolted away, causing the man to stumble back, slowly walked backwards, away from the man. He blinked twice before he realized, to his relief, that the man who had been supporting him was not his uncle, and then several more times before actually recognizing him. Harry's relief tapered off quite quickly, and his legs gave way yet again. He met with the cold stone and cradled his head in his knees. Snape's voice broke the silence.  
  
"I will be back shortly. Anyone who speaks in my absence will find it extremely difficult to make any sound thereafter." His voice softened a good bit as he continued. "Potter, come with me."  
  
They soon entered what Harry recognized as Snape's office. The pale-skinned potions master moved swiftly along the bottle-lined walls and removed a miniscule glass phial.   
  
"Open your mouth." He commanded so firmly that Harry reluctantly obeyed. Snape tipped the phial and a burning sensation filled the boy's throat and he felt his dizziness abruptly subside. The professor held his shoulders as if he expected him to fall again even as he flinched away. His body shook violently, and his breathing became even faster and more erratic. He sank to the floor and curled into a terrified ball. The man beside him sighed and took a pinch of floo powder, throwing it into his fire. He shouted his destination and stepped in, levitating the sobbing boy behind him.  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter is so short, it's all I can type up right now because I'm falling asleep here. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, they're much appreciated. I'll be responding to them about now, because dammit, I can.  
  
LilLeggs- My first review! *covers ears* I'm going to update as fast as I can, so you can stop whining now. Of course, if it makes you review again, whine away!  
  
Sesturi- I'm trying to make this at least somewhat original, and yes, it is sad, but I mean, I can't resist traumatizing someone who's so good at being traumatized! *returns evil grin*  
  
DaughterofDeath- Wow. That was... succinct. Well, here's your chapter. Enjoy! 


	3. Red

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk, staring at the fire, when Severus Snape walked out of it, with a very distressed looking Harry in tow. The potions master spoke, first stating the obvious, a sign that he was less than comfortable.  
  
"Headmaster, I came to speak to you about Potter."   
  
He gestured towards Harry, who was curled up so tightly on the floor that he looked as if he would fold into nothing. Dumbledore glanced at him for a moment and brought his head into his hands, obviously upset. Snape bit his lip and continued.  
  
"He collapsed in class, and seemed overly distressed when I caught him. He seemed about to have a panic attack, so I gave him a calming potion. Now the way he's acting, something must have happened. Someone must have... He's showing the same signs I did when..."  
  
He trailed off, unconsciously wrapping his arms around his waist protectively. Blue eyes watched him sadly.  
  
"I truly hope you're wrong, Severus, but I doubt it."  
  
At this, the professor seemed to come back to himself. Hurriedly dropping his arms to his sides, he cleared his throat.  
  
"I should be getting back to my class. No doubt Longbottom has managed to destroy the dungeons by now. I'll leave you to speak to Potter. Oh, and-" Snape flicked his wand muttering 'Lucem,' and Harry pulled his arms over his face. "I'll be leaving now." He strode out the door without another word.   
  
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Harry gasped and hugged his arms to his face as he felt the familiar effects of the revealing charm. He heard Dumbledore rise and flinched as the headmaster bent down to lift his chin gently. The old man gasped at the sight that greeted him. Harry's jaw was horribly swollen, the parts of his terribly thin face that weren't bruised were ghostly white, and he looked more tired than seemed humanly possible. There were bruises on his neck that seemed to continue onto his chest, his left wrist bent unnaturally, and he appeared to have been starved nearly to death. Dumbledore forced him to gaze into his eyes and spoke softly.  
  
"Harry, I'm going to need you to remove your robes so that I can see your injuries. Can you do that for me?"  
  
Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder, and Harry scrambled backwards until he collided with the desk, where he curled up on the floor and tried to hold back a sob. He failed, and it tore through his throat like an arrow through wool. The headmaster stared at him wearily, waiting for him to calm himself. As he began to recover, another face appeared in the fire. McGonagall's head spoke frantically.  
  
"Albus, I just got an owl from Mundungus. There's apparently a plan for an attack on Hogsmeade, we need you to come now."  
  
Dumbledore nodded and turned to Harry.  
  
"Stay here. I'll be back ass soon as I possibly can be."  
  
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Harry sat on the floor of Dumbledore's office, alone and hating himself. How could he have been so weak as to let this happen, to let them find out? He had seen Dumbledore's face, had seen his pain. He would never stop hurting people. He looked around the room and his eyes locked on the sword on the wall, Gryffindor's sword. He pulled out his wand. "Accio sword." It flew obediently into his swollen hand. The blade, with a sinister shimmer, fell in his right hand and was placed several inches below the delicate crook where the neck and the collarbone meet, as close to the heart as it possibly could be without breaking the skin. Harry gripped the hilt until his hands shook and thrust it into his pounding heart with all his strength. Dark cherry red seeped out of his robes, onto the floor, and more still spilled from his mouth as he coughed violently, gasping for breath. He suddenly realized that he had fallen to the ground where he lay in a puddle of his own blood. Its metallic scent filled his nostrils, disgustingly pungent, yet oddly fragrant. 'Pretty really, so red...' he thought vaguely. He didn't have the chance to chuckle at the irony of his last thought before he sank into the darkness.  
  
'The Boy-Who-Lived died.'  
  
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As Severus Snape entered the dungeons, and owl swooped down on him. He untied the note it carried one-handed and read the hurried but meticulous curves of Albus's handwriting.  
  
Severus-  
I had to leave. Harry is still in my office.   
I have arranged a potions substitute.  
  
Severus sighed and turned on his heals, striding smoothly through the school. He stopped at the stone gargoyle. "Blood flavored lollipop" he said clearly, wondering at Albus's little display of morbidity. The hideous statue made a labored sort of sigh as it moved aside. He passed through the doorway and approached the closed entrance to Dumbledore's office, immediately alarmed when his hooked nose caught the coppery stench of blood. His pale, long fingered hand trembled as in closed, spider like, around the knob. A pearly canine tore into his rosy bottom lip as he rotated his wrist and pulled open the door.  
  
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Author's notes: I'm so evil. Tee-hee! Thanks again for all the reviews, you guys are great. So, my response to them!  
  
I-like-chickens- Thanks, and as you can see, I did!  
  
Sarah- Erm... well, thanks... um... I guess you should see my response to I-like-chickens.  
  
Bakajin- Yeah, I'm working on not getting so rushed. Sometimes I just sort of want to get on with it. As for the not writing thing, I kind of forgot that I put that in there. ^^; Oh well, I'll explain it later...  
  
FroBoy- Actually, I mentioned above that it was a calming potion. Thanks for the compliment!  
  
Mordicai- I'll try to keep that in check. It's so big and intimidating though...  
  
kristendotcom- I'm not planning on making it slash, because, I don't know, I just don't feel like it...  
  
DaughterofDeath- In the immortal words of Seifer, "..."  
  
Sword of the Shadow- You're a shiny person.  
  
too lazy to sign in- Ack! All caps! That's intimidating, you know. *hides*  
  
Baby Sphinx- I did!  
  
selua- I'm sitting here trying to figure out if interesting is a good thing, because that's also what people keep saying...  
  
darkanglefrmhell- Calm yourself. Now, use periods. Oh, and it was a calming potion. ^_~  
  
KittenBabyGirl- I assume that you like it then? Good.  
  
human lifeform- Thanks! Wait a minute... cute? Okay, um... slightly confused here, but okay!  
  
ckat44- OMG to you to, and no, no slash in this one.  
  
Rebecca- I will in the future. I'm not with these because I'm lazy...  
  
dark vampire- I don't know if I should be happy or traumatized... maybe both. 


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